


Tavern Talk

by Jinxin



Series: Silas [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 19:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6207154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinxin/pseuds/Jinxin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It may surprise you to learn that Silas has slept with the most women in the army.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tavern Talk

It came as a surprise to the men in the Nohrian army that amongst the lot of them, in regards to sex, the grey-haired cavalier undoubtedly had the most experience. The general consensus had previously been that Niles, the lascivious thief, held that particular honor. However, Niles himself denied it, seeming delighted to discover that kind-hearted Silas was quite the philanderer. 

The news came out in the same way most ribald secrets came to light—in a small-town tavern around two in the morning when lips grew loose in proportion to the amount of booze that passed between them.

Someone—Niles—had made a particularly lewd crack about the clumsy maid’s prospective blunders in the bedroom when Silas, who most had assumed to be asleep after a few too many, piped up. His posture didn’t change—slumped forward in his seat with his head cushioned by his arms, ear pressed to the table—nor did his eyes so much as flutter as he spoke, “naw, Felicia’s not like that at all—bit of a control freak actually, likes to take lead.”

All other conversation ceased as the soldiers grasped the implicit meaning behind the plastered cavalier’s slurred words. 

If it had been another man, his words might have been dismissed as the meaningless ramblings of a drunk, but Silas had garnered a reputation for himself as an honest drunk. If he didn’t pass out, he’d candidly answer most any question posed at him.

“Silas,” Niles began, ever-present smirk growing into a full-blown smile, “are you saying you’ve bedded Felicia?”

Silas hummed his consent and half the table choked on their drinks. Benny even made an excuse to leave, dropping a few gold coins on the table before shuffling out awkwardly. The large man was unexpectedly prudish. 

“Was she cold?” asked Laslow with an impish grin. The mercenary had struck out with their waitress as well as the barkeep and consigned himself to his group of friends a few hours back. Since then, he’d been nursing a single drink with an absent look in his eyes. It was only now that they regained their familiar mischievous gleam.

“Not unless she wanted to be. Her sister had a habit of going cool when she—well, you know. Kinda refreshing I guess. If you’re into that,” Silas replied. 

The men digested that novel bit of information, and this time it was Arthur, face as red as his leather armguards, that got up to leave, mumbling something about saving a drowning village. 

“You’ve slept with Flora too—both the Ice Tribe sisters?” Odin asked incredulously. He lost his ridiculous dialect about four drinks in. It was too hard to maintain, he’d explained, and everyone liked the intelligible Odin enough not to bother him about it. At Silas’ nod, he let out a low whistle. 

“Exactly how many women have you slept with?” Niles asked. 

Silas frowned. “Like…in the past month, or like—in this army, or like, ever?”

“All of them,” Laslow answered quickly, leaning forward in his seat. He could be quite the gossip at times, but only when the gossip pertained to romance or sex—ideally both. 

“Uh…three or four in the past month…in the army—a lot. And ever…” Silas trailed off for a few moments, brow furrowed in concentration. “No fucking clue,” he said at last. 

The men who’d stuck around sat in stunned silence. Niles, Odin, and Laslow—the more devious of the bunch—were all equally attentive to each word that left the cavalier’s mouth. Kaze sat rather stoically, but made no move to leave. The ninja was an unexpected lightweight though and might have found it impossible to safely reach his room at that point without assistance. In contrast to Kaze, Jakob was undeniably not a lightweight. No one had ever seen him drunk, or perhaps Jakob drunk was the same as Jakob sober. In any case, Jakob was fairly placid this evening likely owing to his being heavily drugged after suffering a poisoned shuriken to the arm—it was possible he’d registered none of what was being said. Indeed, his lack of response would indicate as much. Keaton seemed vaguely confused but delighted nonetheless. The cheerful wolfskin made for an even cheerier drunk, enjoying the current subject of conversation as much as he did the rest. 

Out of them all, Xander was possibly the most perplexing member of the remaining group. It was unusual for either prince to attend a post-battle tavern run. Leo wasn’t fond of crowds or noise or drinking or fun—according to Niles—and Xander was often too busy, too…proper to even merit inviting. But Laslow had taken it upon himself to drag the man to the bar that evening and found he hadn’t needed to force him at all. Xander was more than happy to attend, if only to become more friendly with the men who might give their lives for the war his father started. 

The prince was not known for his smiles, but after the first drink, an easy grin pulled at his lips for the rest of the night. He seemed to enjoy listening to them all banter and would occasionally add his own two cents to the discussion at hand. 

The slight smile remained even now, not because he was too far gone as some might assume, but because he didn’t care so much about the topic matter. He was not the over-protective brother that Leo was and he understood the nature of war enough to know that who had sex with who didn’t matter so much. Besides, Camilla had always done as she wanted and Corrin’s business was not his. Elise was a bit young, though, and he faintly hoped she was not among the ladies Silas had taken to bed. 

What could have loosely been called a conversation devolved into Leo’s retainers and Laslow rattling off names of female companions for Silas to confirm whether or not he’d slept with them. 

“Effie?”

“Yeah.”

“Peri?”

Silas shivered involuntarily. “Just once.”

“Nyx?”

“Uh…think so. Not really my type though.”

“Beruka?”

“Nah.”

“Not Azura, right?”

“No, she doesn’t swing that way.” Everyone nodded understandingly—most had expected as much. 

“Mozu?”

“Sure.”

“Selena?” Odin asked with a snicker.

“Uh-huh—unexpectedly bold.” The mage and the mercenary burst into raucous laughter, vowing to tease their good friend about it later. 

“Charlotte?” 

“Haha. Yeah.”

“What about Xander’s sisters?” Keaton asked bluntly, jerking a thumb in the crown prince’s direction. He was in competition with Niles for the only one, even drunk, tactless enough to ask in Xander’s presence.

“What, like, Elise? That girl’s practically my little sister; wouldn’t go there,” Silas said with a shake of his head. Xander breathed a sigh of relief—that was all he wanted to hear. 

No one bothered to ask about Camilla—that much was assumed. 

“What about Corrin?” Laslow asked.  
Everyone perked up at the mention of the dragon princess. She was somewhat of a favorite in the camp. Her easy smiles and charisma made her an object of affection for both genders and her recent class change to sorceress, complete with the archetypal clingy and sheer garb generated more interest than usual. Even the wolfskin, who was normally impervious to feminine charms was prone to blushing in her presence. 

That reason alone might have captured the attention of the table easily enough, but there was a second allure. It was common knowledge much in the same way that the sky was blue or pegasi hated archers that Silas was stupidly in love with the middle princess. Who else would recall every tiny wish and train for years in the army just to get the chance to see their childhood friend? 

Corrin, for her part, seemed to enjoy Silas’ company arguably more than others—she’d never say as much because she was determined to call each member of the army a dear friend. However, Corrin didn’t follow Silas around with puppy eyes and walk miles up a nearby mountain in search of some flower he said he’d wanted to see at some nebulous point in time. It was kind of a cute—in a pathetic way. 

Silas had remained nonchalant and half-asleep for all the prior questions but bolted up in his seat, face aflame at the mention of his best friend. “N-no! Of course not!” he stuttered. He considered his words for a second and the men watched him physically deflate. His head drooped as he picked up a mostly-empty glass and swirled the last drops of alcohol around in the bottom. “Why would I be sleeping with anyone else if…” Silas sighed heavily and Kaze passed him another full glass. The lovesick cavalier knocked it back and let his head fall onto table once more. 

Silence reigned until Laslow, ever inconsiderate of the mood, spoke up.

“Uh…so, Silas…can I ask you one last question or…?” Laslow ventured. Xander glared at his thoughtless and insensitive retainer, but if the mercenary noticed, he was not cowed by the withering look. 

“Shoot,” Silas grunted. 

“How do you seduce so many women? I don’t get it.” The table groaned at Laslow’s predictable question, but were eager to distract Silas from his sudden depression. 

Silas snorted. “Seduce? It’s not seducing.”

“They come onto you then?” Laslow asked in awe.

“Sometimes, yeah. Usually a little bit of both I guess. I don’t know, you just kind of have a feel for that sort of thing, you know?”

“I definitely don’t,” Laslow replied. 

“Well, yeah, Laslow you try way too hard. You’d probably be dating someone by now if you didn’t.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because it’s pretty simple—women like you.”

“They do!?”

“Yeah and do you know how I know that? Because I like you—Niles stop smiling, I didn’t mean it that way. Men and women aren’t nearly as different as you make them seem. If someone likes you, you have a shot at a relationship with that person, and if you’re not half-bad looking, there might be something more there. It’s really not that hard. You just fuck it up because you’re too much of a flirt. Niles too, except he actually likes that.” 

The silence that fell over the table this time had a touch of respect in it for the cavalier. They possessed a newfound understanding of why exactly the man was such a popular partner. He was well-liked and down-to-earth—perceptive to boot. 

“Silas, you seem to know a lot about the people in this army,” Xander said, genuinely impressed. 

“Of course I do; you’re all my friends,” he said with a tired smile, “but I think that’s enough questions for tonight. Kaze, do you need help getting back to your room?”

The ninja nodded and struggled to move from his seat, nearly knocking a glass onto the floor in the process.

The two said their goodbyes to the men at the table and paid their tabs on their way out. In the cool night air, Kaze stumbled gracelessly with an arm around the cavalier’s shoulder. 

“Silas?” asked Kaze when they were halfway to the inn they’d booked for the night. 

“Yeah man?”

“If you like Corrin…and it’s as simple as you say,” he said slowly, trying exceptionally hard not to slur his speech to the point of unintelligibility, “why haven’t you said anything to her?”

Silas stopped walking and Kaze wondered if he’d overstepped the bounds of their friendship. 

Ten seconds of agonizing silence passed before Silas let out a bitter laugh. “You always know what to ask, don’t you Kaze?” He laughed again and then looked thoughtful. “I guess it’s got a lot to do with what Xander said earlier—I _do_ know a lot about you guys—I get how you think and I understand you. 

“With Corrin…it’s not like that. I know all her favorite foods and books and the places she wants to go…but I can’t read her. I never know what she’s gonna say or how she, you know, actually feels about me. I mean I know she likes me well enough but…”

“Is uncertainty such an obstacle for you?” 

Silas grimaced. “What can I say? I’ve always been a bit of a coward.”

“Silas—

“Sorry, Kaze. I don’t really want to talk about this anymore.”

“…okay.”

The two walked on until the lights of the tavern disappeared on the horizon and the night swallowed them whole.


End file.
